Fourth man in the fire

Daniel 3 is the story of three extraordinary men, men whom you’ve probably heard. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three Jewish men who were living in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had declared that everyone was to bow down to a golden idol when music was played and if you did not bow you would be thrown into a fiery furnace. now, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being men of God, they did not bow down to this idol. when the King heard this news, he commanded that the three men would be thrown into a furnace seven times hotter than normal. the furnace was so extremely hot that the guards who were throwing the three into the furnace were instantly killed. while looking at the furnace, the King realized that there were four men walking around in the furnace. he says, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” King Nebuchadnezzar calls out the names of the men and they walk out of the fire with no singed hair, they didn’t even smell like fire. King Nebuchadnezzar was in awe of God and declared that everyone in Babylon would worship the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

we walk through trials. we walk through the fire. Satan throws us head-first into the fiery furnace. He is trying to obliterate the truth and faith we walk in. I know the suffocating feeling of seemingly being in the midst of a fire and seeing there is no way out.  you are being hard pressed on every side. you feel the heat rising, but then you look to you right. you see the son of God standing right next to you. Jesus meets us where we are, even if that means walking through the fire with us.

when we are walking through hard times, we can often feel alone. we feel like nobody knows exactly what we are going through, which to a certain extent is true. no human knows exactly your pain, but Jesus does. Jesus endured all the pain that you will ever endure while on the cross. I find comfort in knowing that the one who holds my life knows my pain.  there is a certain joy in knowing that your pain is for a purpose. like the three men from the story, they walked through literal fire and came out with no injuries. in turn, King Nebuchadnezzar came to know and proclaim the name of Jesus.

my prayer is that while you are in the midst of the fire, that you will look to your side and see Jesus. you will see that He cares so much for you that He will come into the fire with you. many times we ask for the fire to be extinguished and for our trials to be taken away, we want an easy life. that’s human nature. The Lord sees it as a refining process. fire can refine and turn something good into something beautiful. when you walk out of the fire, you will be a new creation. people will see you and in you, they will see Jesus. people will be astonished that you walked out of the fire, the trial, the hard time. they will ask what got you through it, and then you will have a platform to share Jesus. Don’t be afraid of the fire, for you won’t be in there alone.